She’s known for her larger than life persona when judging shows like Britain’s Got Talent And Strictly Come Dancing, but Alesha Dixon took on a serious tone when it came to sitting down with Cosmopolitan Magazine and discussing her experiences in the entertainment industry.

Dixon focused on the inequality and prejudice that exists in the industry today, pointing out that it still exists in spite of the efforts made in recent years to put issue of skin colour and ethnicity behind it. “Sadly, I’ve learnt that prejudice still exists in parts of the entertainment industry” she told Cosmopolitan. “I did an interview with a magazine once and the journalist quite openly said they wouldn’t put a black person on the front cover because the magazine wouldn’t sell. It made me angry because it shouldn’t be about the colour of the person’s skin, it should be about the person.”

It’s something Dixon’s all too used to, having grown up in the small town of Welwyn Garden City. “When you’re a woman of colour in a predominantly white area, you become aware of prejudice from a young age” she said. However, it was that which drove her on. “I was the only mixed-race girl in my school, but for me that was a positive thing; it made me unique. If it wasn’t for spending time with the black side of my family, perhaps I may have felt like an outcast, but I never did.”

Alesha Dixon: says prejudice still exists in the entertainment industry